06.28.19
An article in The Pink Sheet highlighted the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC)’s involvement with Value Our Health — a new initiative supported by organizations representations patients and people with disabilities. The article highlights Value Our Health’s opposition to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s (ICER) use of the quality-adjusted-life-years (QALY) metric, nothing that the patients groups have long criticized the method as a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing the needs of patients. “It is disappointing that ICER…06.27.19
A coalition of patient advocates, provider groups and drug makers is criticizing the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review for using a metric they say discriminates against people with disabilities and chronic illness. ICER has responded to the criticism by saying it will include alternative, less controversial metrics in its cost-effectiveness reports. The metric at issue is the Quality-Adjusted Life-Year, which is a commonly used standard internationally to determine the cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, including…06.24.19
A Boston-based watchdog group uses a “one-size-fits-all” approach to determine fair prices for prescription drugs, a mind-set ill-suited for a growing wave of expensive medicines that treat rare diseases, according to a new report by a libertarian-leaning think tank.01.28.19
Pharmaceutical companies want to sell pharmaceuticals. Insurers want to keep per-member-per-month costs below monthly member premiums. Providers want to see their patients get access to care. Patients want to feel better and live longer. What would happen if multiple representatives from each of these groups were put in a room and asked what they value in terms of health services? Could we get past tensions from multiple perspectives, potential competing interests, or previous transgressions from…10.29.18
As policymakers around the world seek to manage rising drug expenditures, people with disabilities find ourselves increasingly concerned by the potential harms that cost-cutting measures may bring. The growing fight between health care purchasers and drug manufacturers offers yet another instance where people with disabilities and chronic conditions may find themselves caught in the cross-fire. CVS Caremark’s recently announced policy allowing self-insured employers to exclude new drugs from their formularies based on a flawed cost-effectiveness measure has…10.29.18
As policymakers around the world seek to manage rising drug expenditures, people with disabilities find ourselves increasingly concerned by the potential harms that cost-cutting measures may bring. The growing fight between health care purchasers and drug manufacturers offers yet another instance where people with disabilities and chronic conditions may find themselves caught in the cross-fire.10.06.18
When a person is first diagnosed with epilepsy their world is turned upside down. The questions come fast and furious. What does this mean for my life? Will I die from this? Can I pass this along to my children? Why me? Can this disease be managed, and will I still be able to participate in life and all that is important to me? The answer to that last question is critical because everything suddenly…
